Human Settlements
Whether the Department experiences any red tape that has an impact on the delivery of housing opportunities; if so, how can it be reduced to accelerate the delivery of houses in (a) category B municipalities and (b) the City of Cape Town?
The process of providing a house to a beneficiary remains entangled in bureaucratic systems that require various regulations and procedures to be observed, resulting in undue delays and time loss.
Similar bureaucratic processes are experienced by both B municipalities and the City of Cape Town.
Red tape and the effects on the housing process:
o The time frames and alignment with municipal standards and guidelines for the testing of the quality and pressure of water connections to households;
o The time frames and alignment with Eskom for certification;
o Power of Attorney to Provincial Government where land is owned by the City of Cape Town but province is the implementer;
o Delays in the approval of applications to the City of Cape Town for funding from the Urban Settlement Development Grant for the development of critical provincial and catalytic projects;
o Long delays in processing and acquiring development rites which includes feasibility studies, bulk services, water use licenses, land use planning ordinances;
o Individual approval of building plans by municipalities;
o Delays in the installation of water and electrical devices and connections – differences between devices provided for by municipality and what the housing subsidy provides for.
The following interventions could potentially reduce the red tape:
o Quicker decision making processes by Eskom and departments providing the planning approval;
o It is crucial to urgently review the time frames for pre-construction activities such as Feasibility studies and Environmental Impact Assessments; (It should be noted that the Minister of Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning recently gave an undertaking to the Minister to FastTrack all approvals);
o Municipalities to consider bulk approval of building plans for individual houses. They should bolster capacity to cater for large numbers of approvals – administrative and rigorous Council oversight needed to make it happen; and
o Municipalities to request for installation of water and electrical devices and connections from provinces or developers in order to avert delays.
